ZURICH: Russia are making a partial return to international soccer after being included in the draw for the boys’ Under-15 World Cup festival announced Friday by FIFA.

Russia have been excluded from FIFA and UEFA competitions since the full military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but were invited to the under-15 tournament last December — along with all of FIFA’s 211 member federations — in the first easing of their ban.

In the draw, Russia were grouped with Turkey, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Sudan for the inaugural tournament being hosted next month by Azerbaijan.

Russia’s exclusion from international soccer was imposed after multiple European federations said their teams would not play against Russian opponents.

The ruling by FIFA and UEFA was later upheld at the Court of Arbitration for Sport where the soccer bodies argued they faced chaos in their competitions if Russian teams were allowed to play and future opponents started to boycott fixtures.

Poland had said they would not face Russia in a World Cup qualifying playoff scheduled in March 2022.

There is no current prospect of Russian teams returning to play in the European Championships or Champions Leagues for men and women. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has said Russia’s senior teams will not be allowed to return while the war in Ukraine continues.

Turkey are the only European opponent in Russia’s six-team group at the under-15s event, which features 191 teams and will be played from Oct. 24-30.

Just 37 of the 55 UEFA member federations were in the draw, with Ukraine not involved. Germany and the Netherlands also will not play.

The United States and North Korea also are missing.

FIFA aims to give smaller nations games against the world’s best

“The FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival addresses a fundamental challenge in international football: providing meaningful competitive opportunities for nations in which qualifying for FIFA competitions remains an enormous challenge,” the governing body said.

Teams will be eight-a-side with games played in 20-minute halves on smaller size fields, FIFA said.

FIFA has said the first Under-15 World Cup for girls will be played next year and both events are intended to be annual from 2028.